Musical toy



21 1 1. H. G. FISH R 2,259,62

MUSICAL TOY Filed June 19, 1940 ATTORNEYS Herman hwr,

Patented Oct. 21, 1941 MUSICAL Tor Herman G. Fisher, East Aurora, N. Y., assignor to Fisher-Price Toys, Inc., East Aurora, N. Y.

Application June 19, 1940, Serial No. 341,336

6 Claims. (01. 46-111) Y Y This invention relates to musical toys andhas for one of its objects the provision of an improved form of action-musical toy which is adapted to be constructed by simple manufacturing steps such as may be economically employed in connec tion with large scale production operations. Another object of the invention is to provide an improved form of action mechanism for traction toys. Another object'of the invention is to provide an improved form of mounting for a musical tine in conjunction with a toy sounding board. Anotherobject of the invention is to provide an improved and simplified form of striking mechanism for action upon toy sound producing devices. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the specification herein.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical section of a toy of the invention; 1

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof with portions broken away to show the mechanism of the interior; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of an operating cam element of the mechanism of Figs. 1 and 2, shown in disassembled relation therefrom.

The invention is illustrated in the drawing as being incorporated in a toy wagon formed generally of a bottom plate In, transverse end walls l2; and side walls I4. The toy wagon is mounted for rolling movement upon a floor or other supporting surface by means of opposed traction wheels 20 which are keyed to an axle 22 extending transversely of the wagon body and rotatably mounted thereon by means of staples 24 driven into the bottom plate l0.

The bottom plate I is slotted as at 25, and a plurality of cam devices 28 are mounted upon the axle 22 and keyed thereon for rotation thereabout and within the corresponding slots 25 upon rotation of the wheels 20. As illustrated herein, the axle 22 may be conveniently formed of square section and the cam devices 28are provided with complementary shaped apertures so that the cams may be slidingly mounted upon the axle into their operative positions within the corresponding slots 26. Thus, upon assembly of the toy the slots 26 function as guidedevi-ces for maintaining the cams in proper lateral positions upon the axle but without interference with the free rotational movements of the cams upon rotation of the axle. The cams 28 are formed with extending finger portions 29 bounded by sloping side edges forcamming action against movable elements of the toy.

As illustrated, the movable elements of the toy are in the form of arms 30 formed of bent wire or the like and having laterally turned end portions 32 rotatably mounted between bearing blocks 34 and the bottom plate l9. For this purpose the bearing blocks 34 are grooved as at 36 to accommodate the portion 32 therein in 'freely rotating manner. The extreme end portions 38 of the arms 30 are bent at right angles to the directions of the slots 36 so as to bear against adjacent side wall portions of the blocks 34 to prevent endwise disengagement of the arms from the bearing blocks. The arms 39 are arranged to normally reside in the solid line position shown in Fig. 1 and are formed with laterally offset portions 40 which are disposed within the orbits of movement of the camming end portions 29 of the cams 28. r v

The outer free ends of'the arms 30 are provided with any desired form of action-effect element such as, for example, a hard wood ball 4| as illustrated in the drawing; and it will be seen that upon rotation of the traction wheels 20 the cam devices 28 will periodically impart to the arms 38 clockwise oscillativei movements as viewed in Fig. 1' about the axes of the bearing portions 32 of the arms ascenters of oscillation. If the toy rolling movement'is at a relatively low rate of speed the cams will periodically press against the offset portions of the arms and the free ends of the arms 30 will be lifted from the solid line position shown in Fig. 1 to about the lower of the broken line positions shown in Fig. 1. However, if the rate of rolling movement is increased the cam members will rapidly impinge against the ofiset portions 49-0 the arms and will kick the arms upwardly as to the higher broken line position shown in the drawing. Thus a simplified form of toy mechanism is provided wherein two different kinds of action of the movable element thereof are obtainable in response to rolling movement of the toy at different rates of speed.

The movable arm members 3?) are illustrated. in the drawing as being operatively associated with musical tines 50 for production of musical notes upon rolling movement of the toy across a floor or other supporting surface. The tines 5!} are disposed within the paths of oscillation of the strikers 4| at the upper limit oftheir movement when kicked by the cams .28, and are mounted in cantilever fashion upon a sounding board 52 ex: tending between theend walls 6 2 of the wagon body. The connection means between the end of each of the tines 50 and the sounding board 52 comprises an individual metal bushing 54 rigidly The bushings 54 are counterbored at 62 and the tines 50 are formed of reduced section as at 64 in the region of their emergence from the grips of the bushings. By reason of this construction the tines 58 are enabled to flex throughout the free portions thereof and with increased degree adjacent the bushing mounting without being.

muflled by the grip of the bushing. Hence the vibrations of the tine are transmitted to the sounding board without interference effects. I have found that the use of a wooden baseblock for mounting of the bushings 54 as explained hereinabove provides an improved quality of musical note which is free from metallic sounding effects and soft and mellow and of definitely improved value.

The use of the tine striking device illustrated and described hereinabove in combination with the tine mounting structure of the invention is particularly effective because of the fact that the strikers 4| are kicked by the cam devices against the tines in an improved manner with a sharp striking action and freely rebound therefrom in such manner as to avoid continued contact such as would otherwise mufile and interfere with the generation of perfect sound vibrations for transmission to the sounding board. Consequently the specific combination of the sound'producing and actuating elements of the toy of the invention is of improved utility and advantage. 7

' Thus, the invention provides a simplified and novel form of cam device wherein the cam elements 28 are of identical form and may be produced by simple metal stamping operations. The cam elements 28 are freely floatable upon the shaft 22 so as to allow for adjusting movements of the cams upon the shaft to accommodate inaccuracies in the manufacture and assembly of other portions of the toy. Also, a plurality of cam elements 28 may be arranged upon the shaft 22 in such manner as to extend at various angular relationships therefrom so as to be adapted to actuate a plurality of movable elements of the toy in different timing relationships. It will also be understood that the openings in the cam elements 38 for receiving the shaft 22 therein will be disposed at any desired radial arrangement relative to the operating points 29 of the cams, and thus a plurality of cam elements 28 may be radially arranged upon the driving shaft member at an infinite number of angular relationships therearound for actuation of movable elements in any predetermined sequence of operation, and this result is accomplished through use only of interchangeable parts. 5

Although only one form of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited but that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a musical toy, a body mounted upon a traction wheel for rolling movement along a surface, a wooden sounding board and sounding means disposed in adjacency therebeneath, a striker mounted beneath said sounding means for free up and down movement for impinging against said sounding means, and cam means actuated from said traction wheel and engageable with said striker when the latter is in a lowered position for moving the same upwardly and imparting thereto sufllcient velocity to cause the striker to leave the cam and impinge upwardly against the sounding means, return of said striker to lowered position being under the force of gravity.

2. In a musical toy, a body mounted upon a traction wheel for rolling movementv along a surface, a wooden sounding board and sounding means disposed in adjacency therebeneath, a striker mounted'beneath said sounding means for free pivotal movement upwardly toward said sounding means for impinging thereagainst, and cam means actuated from said traction wheel and engageable with said striker when the latter is in a lowered position for pivoting the same upwardly toward said sounding means and imparting thereto suificient velocity to cause the striker to leave the cam and impinge upwardlyagainst the sounding means, return of said striker to lowered position being under the force of gravity.

3. In a musical toy, a body mounted upon a traction wheel for rolling movement along a sur-' face, sounding means and a striker mounted beneath said sounding means for free up and down movement for impinging against said sounding means, and cam means actuated from said traction wheel and engageable with said striker when the latter is in a lowered position for moving the same upwardly and imparting thereto suflicient velocity to cause the striker to' leave the cam and impinge upwardly against the sounding means, return of said striker to lowered position being under the force of gravity.

4. In a musical toy, a body mounted upon a traction wheel for rolling movement along a surface, a wooden sounding board and sounding means disposed in adjacency therebeneath, a striker mounted beneath said sounding means for free up and down movement for impinging against said sounding means, and means actuated from said traction wheel and engageable with said striker when the latter is in a lowered position for moving the same partly upwardly and imparting thereto suflicient velocity to cause the striker to continue upwardly by reason of its own momentum and impinge upwardly against the sounding means, return of said striker to lowered position being under the force of gravity.

5. In a musical toy, a body mounted upon a traction wheel for rolling movement along a surface, sounding means, and a striker mounted beneath said sounding means for free up and down movement for impinging against said sounding means, and means actuated from said traction wheel and engageable with said striker when the latter is in a lowered position for moving the same partly upwardly and imparting thereto sufficient velocity to cause the striker to leave said striker moving means and impinge upwardly against the sounding means, return of said striker to lowered position being initiated immediately following impingement by reason of rebound from said sounding means and the action of the force of gravity.

tion for pivoting the same upwardly toward said sounding means and imparting thereto sufiicient velocity to cause the striker to leave the striker pivoting means and impinge upwardly against the sounding means, return of said striker to lowered position being under the force of gravity.

HERMAN G. FISHER. 

